New Clydesdale Bank £5 note enters full circulation

Clydesdale Bank’s new £5 note was the first fully polymer note to enter circulation in Great Britain in March 2015. From September 27 it will begin to replace the Bank’s current paper £5 note.

David Duffy, Chief Executive Officer of Clydesdale Bank visited the production line at De La Rue to view the £5 polymer banknotes being created.

The full production polymer note is designed by De La Rue plc and manufactured on an innovative polymer substrate, Safeguard®.

The note also includes the Spark® Orbital™ security feature which appears as shiny ink in the shape of Scotland over a transparent window which changes colour as the note is moved and tilted.

Commenting on the new note David Duffy said: “Our £5 polymer note has been extremely popular with the public, businesses and collectors since we introduced it last year and we’re delighted to now be bringing it into full circulation. We are excited to be leading the way in innovation having launched the first polymer note in Great Britain, and we look forward to introducing a new £10 polymer note in 2017.”

Clydesdale Bank is the largest issuer by volume of notes in Scotland. It introduces around £400 million worth of new notes every year and in 2015 reached the milestone of having more than £2 billion worth of notes in circulation on a single day.